The document analyzes conventions of pop magazine covers and contents pages. Genre conventions include bright colors, neat fonts appealing to young audiences featuring popular artists. The Billboard magazine cover uses a colorful masthead and bright image of Katy Perry surrounded by flowers. The Q Magazine cover stands out with a controversial image of Lana Del Rey with blood and an attention-grabbing pink cover line. Both magazines use circles and colors like yellow consistently across elements to tie the design together professionally. Contents pages also feature celebrity images and styles tailored to each magazine's target audience.

1. Masthead
Pug
Main Image
Anchorage
Cover Line

2. Masthead
Pug
Skyline
Anchorage
Main Image
Cover Line

3. Genre
I have chosen to analyse two cover pages, contents pages and doubles
spreads from a variety of pop magazines. Genre conventions of pop magazines
are bright colours, neat and pretty writing and young, popular artists or boy
bands featuring heavily throughout the magazines.

4. Masthead
The masthead uses a clear yet stylish font, this is an iconic sign as it fits in well with the rest of
the cover and it ties in some bright colours. The style of the font is quite informal, the preferred
reading of this would be that this appeals to readers as it feels more welcoming and targets
every audience. The colour of the font is black, the preferred reading of this would be that black
is a classy colour nonetheless the oppositional reading of some readers could be that the use
of black creates a dark and depressing feel, however Billboard use the bright colours blue and
yellow to fill in the gap of the ‘a’ and ‘d’ which adds to the preppy and fun look. This font is also
used throughout the rest of the cover page in the anchorage and cover lines creating a clean
and finished look.
Main Image
The main image on the Billboard magazine is a long shot of popular female artist Katy Perry.
The image is an indexical sign as some people who are not fans of the genre may have the
stereotype that pop artists are constantly wearing revealing clothes and are just about sex
appeal, yet Katy Perry is wearing an appropriate but cute dress and is draped in flowers. The
flowers could signify youth and purity as they are objects of nature which is usually associated
with freshness, they could be an indexical sign to show Katy Perry’s growth as an artist as
flowers have to grow. The mise-en-scene (clothes and props) complement the colour of the
background well. The preferred reading of this image would be that Katy Perry looks young and
happy and isn’t showing a lot of her body just to look good.
Billboard Magazine

5. Masthead
The masthead uses an informal font and is very simple but it is instantly recognisable as it is a
very popular magazine, the preferred reading of this could be that the producers want the
readers to feel cool and current. The use of the red background for the white colour of the letter
Q means that the masthead immediately stands out. the oppositional reading of the use of the
colour red could be that it can signify danger and ager, however the preferred reading would be
that red is a vibrant and edgy colour which grabs people’s attention.
Main Image
The main image is a mid shot of Lana Del Ray, straight away the image is quite controversial
due to the blood dripping down her face, the oppositional reading of people who are not of the
target audience would be that it is disturbing and not appropriate for a pop magazine, however
the preferred reading would be that it relates to the anchorage, ‘So What’s So Bloody Good?’.
Also it could be an indexical sign which implies that the tiara is causing her pain, which could
be interpreted as that life being famous isn’t all as glorious as it seems. The use of a mid shot
allows you to focus on the image but it also creates a personal feel as if the readers know the
celebrity in the image.
Q Magazine

6. Cover Line - Billboard
The main cover line was the only part of the cover page that used a different style and size
font, it was slightly more formal, the preferred reading of this would be that the producers want
this particular part to stand out, most likely because it is in relation to the main image. The font
style is and iconic sign as it is a pretty and fairly feminine font, which relates to Katy Perry.
Cover Line - Q Magazine
The main cover line for this magazine uses a very informal style of font, it uses a bright pink
colour and it is very large this means it is eye catching for the reader, the font almost looks as if
it has been written in lipstick, the preferred reading of this would be that the producer want to
create a personal touch for the readers, also it is a bit quirky and exciting which is good for a
pop magazine. For someone out of the target audience the oppositional reading could be that
the font looks messy and out of place.

7. Pug - Billboard Magazine
The pug on the cover of the Billboard magazine uses the iconic sign of a circle to highlight it. The circle
does not have a colour fill and is just the outline of a circle, this makes the use of the pug a lighter
touch, it is more attractive rather than a block of colour interrupting the main image. The preferred
reading of this would be that the producers want to make the cover page as professional looking as
possible. The pug is an indexical sign because unless you were a fan of pop or part of the target
audience you wouldn’t really understand it as you would not have heard of these artists before. The
colour for the title of the information in the pug is yellow, yellow is a bright and vibrant colour which can
signify happiness it is also commonly used to highlight things such as hazard labels, the preferred
reading of this would be that it is eye-catching and creates a happy feeling for the reader.
Pug – Q Magazine
The pug for Q magazine is in placed in the middle of magazine so it is one of the first things the reader
will see. It uses the iconic sign of a circle with a jagged edge as the background for the text, the
preferred reading of this would be that the producers wish to add some excitement by not using
typical circle, the jagged edge creates a certain edginess which the target audience would enjoy. The
use of the colour yellow is a symbolic sign as it could signify happiness as it connotes to brightness
and the sun, however the oppositional reading of this could be that someone who isn’t of the target
audience would interpret the use of yellow as signifying danger as the colour is commonly used on
warning signs. The colour yellow ties in the with skyline which uses yellow, the use of the same colour
throughout creates a professional and seamless look as it ties the cover page together.

8. Headlines
Image
Secondary images
Sections

9. Headline
Image
Secondary Imag
Section

10. Sections
The sections used for this magazine are straight away obviously aimed at a younger
target audience, I can tell this through the use sans serif font which creates an
informal look, this would be more preferred by teenagers as the preferred reading
would be that this font style creates a welcoming style. It could also be said that the
font style is a little decorative with the swirls on the capital letters of each word, the
referred reading of this would be that the producers wanted to create a more ‘girly’
style.
Headlines
The use of language for the headline is very informal, ‘mag’, this is something that
young, teenage girls would often use in their everyday lives so the preferred reading of
this would be that the producers wish the readers to feel that they can relate to the
magazine. The font used for the headline is script, this is an iconic sign of
handwritten style, the preferred reading of this would be that the producers want to
create a personal feel and direct address to the reader.
Top of the Pops

11. Sections
The sections used for billboard magazine use more sophisticated language such as
‘women’, this shows that it is a slightly older target audience. The use of font is sans
serif which is a more informal font type of font, the preferred reading of this would be
that the producers want to create a modern look, the also use italic font this creates a
more classy look, the oppositional reading of this would be that it does not fit in with
the rest of the layout and looks messy.
Headlines
The headline for Billboard is the iconic sign of the word ‘contents’, this is simple and
to the point, the preferred reading of this would be that it creates a clear and neat
look which is attractive to the reader. It also uses the colour white for the headline,
white can be seen as a symbolic sign for freshness and purity therfore the referred
reading of this would be that the producers want a clean look to their contents page.
Billboard

12. Main Image – Top of the Pops
The main image for Top of The Pops is the iconic sign of a picture of its cover page, the
image is annotated with big pink numbers to show what number page each of the
stories from the cover page are on. The preferred reading of this would be that it is
something more interesting for the young target audience to look at rather than listed
contents. The use of the colour pink could represent teenage girls.
Main Image – Billboard
The main image for the contents page is a close up of popular artist Adele, Adele
mainly attracts and older target audience and this is reflected by the colours used in
the picture she is wearing black and the back ground is grey, the referred reading of
this would be that black and grey are classy ad sophisticated colours, how ever from
someone who is not the target audience the colours may seem dark and depressing
this would be the oppositional reading. Also the close up could also show that
producers want the readers to admire Adele’s make up choices, in addition the use of
the close up creates a personal effect; the preferred reading of this would be that the
producers want the readers to feel on the same level as the celebrity.